Longevity and Near-Future Science Fiction

Monday, February 17, 2014

Set in San Francisco five years before Livvy Hutchins joins Chris McGregor and Louie the enhanced-intelligence dog in D.C. Longevity Law Enforcement, Pretty Woman, Floating shows Livvy submerged in the toughest case of her Homicide Unit experience. With her Longevity Laissez-Faire family's expectations dogging her and a failed romance with her Homicide partner forcing her to question her choices, Livvy confronts her personal demons while she fights a running battle against the deadly droid creations of a black market mercenary with brilliant technical skills.

Monday, June 24, 2013

The Third Curse, a prequel set in 2052, is the newest novel in the Longevity Law Enforcement series. Chris McGregor and Meg Dalton join forces to track down a mass murderer and find that 21st century politics have become an obstacle to justice. While Chris struggles to find a way to break through the barrier, Meg finds herself on a path that leads her to the third curse.The Third Curse

1967 The
Outer Space Treaty The Treaty
affirms that the Moon and other celestial bodies are the common heritage of mankind, and states that they are “not
subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or
occupation, or by any other means.” The treaty also states
that the exploration of outer space shall be done to benefit all countries and
shall be free for exploration and use by all nations. More specifically, it
bars the nations that are Parties to the Treaty from using the Moon, other
celestial bodies, and outer space for platforms for weapons of mass
destruction, including nuclear weapons.
As of 2012, the Treaty is still the basis for international space law.

2030s Molecular biologists begin to make Enhancement
protocols available. People can choose
to change their appearance or their brain chemistry. Enhancements prove to be
quite profitable and popular. Within a
short period of time, “hotlabs” in which people with variable degrees of
competence start offering discount procedures, appear in many cities. Sometimes the procedures offered in these illegal
labs have horrendous results.

2034 The Longevity process makes
biological immortality and eternal youthavailable to the very rich.

2034-2046
During these years the Longevity process gradually becomes more
affordable and widely available to the upper middle class, so that eventually
almost 30% of the U.S. population has access.
It is also offered in government clinics as a job benefit for federal
employees. Enhancement protocols
proliferate and become more widely available although they are still expensive.

Longevity and enhancement protocols remain
unregulated other than the legal requirement that physicians supervise
procedures, which are performed by molebiol practitioners, assisted by nurses,
in doctor’s offices. The AAMB (American
Association of Molecular Biologists) and the AAMP (American Association of
Medical Practitioners) are formed and are frequently antagonistic.

Within a few years of its development, the
Longevity process is capable of duplication by people with a minimum of skills
and the right combination of supplies, although not without hazards. Facilities that aren’t licensed to perform
Longevity are, like their enhancement equivalents, known as “hotlabs.”

Widespread
and unrelenting protests arise as people who can’t afford Longevity and
enhancements realize that they will soon be governed exclusively by people
using the new technologies. Few
“naturals” have the resources to run for office, and those who are elected
cannot resist taking advantage of their new opportunities. One ‘natural’ who runs on a platform
advocating banning Longevity is assassinated.
Far from calming down with curfews and other government crackdowns, the
unrest escalates with time.

These years also
see the rise of two loosely organized groups: the Children of Christ’s
Sacrifice (CCS) and the Naturals Only, who are fanatically opposed to Longevity
for religious and philosophical grounds, respectively. The more energetic of these protesters favor
domestic terrorism. They also engage in
outspoken recruitment. The groups are
widespread and appear to be growing as it becomes more and more obvious that
biological immortality and enhancements are creating impenetrable class
barriers.

The decade sees
the downfall of some of the more precarious democracies of the world. Anarchy is common. Some nations survive as military dictatorships or
oligarchies. The United Nations ceases
to exist.

2035 Richard Williams is born
(LLE detective and Michael Agnew’s first partner in Longevity).

2045-2046
The Allotment Riots – Despite the imposition of martial law in every
U.S. city, protests and demonstrations escalate into cycles of uncontrolled
rioting. Hate crimes are common. Over a hundred thousand people die in two
years.

2046 Time of Prologue to The
Dog on the Moon (Longevity Law Enforcement Book 3) Domestic terrorists blow up the Capitol
and Washington Monument.

2046 The Longevity Laws are passed. The surviving members of Congress realize
that the U.S. cannot survive as a democracy, or possibly as a nation, unless
they accept laws that limit the use of the new technologies. Karen DeVoe, a bioethicist, previously
suggested a framework of laws that rationally establishes limits.

Every person who can afford Longevity and chooses
to use it is allotted resets until their 200th birthday. If they also choose to have children, for
every child born they lose 50 years of their Longevity Allotment. Regardless of what they can afford, if they
choose to have 3 or more children they are obligated to start aging naturally from
their 50th birthday on.

2046 Dustin Meacher, Naturals Only
candidate, wins election to the House of Representatives.

2047 Enhancement laws are passed, prohibiting
enhancements that fail the Herrnstein
Criterion: if an enhancement gives an individual an unfair advantage, it is
prohibited. The exception is
enhancements for beauty, which no one wants to outlaw. As one senator famously says, “I say when
the government sets itself to regulate beauty, then what will it turn to
next? Truth? Are we then to turn away from what we cherish most because it is
not always attainable by everyone equally?
Are we to say that art violates the right to freedom of
expression because not everyone can produce it or afford it?”

2046-
Commercial flights to the Moon become common and some U.S. companies begin
exploiting lunar resources.

2047
Paula Bedford, John Bedford’s estranged daughter, is born (Longevity).

2047-2050
Despite the general acceptance of the Longevity Laws, protests and rioting
remain omnipresent at a low level.
However, every major case of abuse of the Laws leads to anti-Longevity
and enhancement propaganda campaigns by the more mainstream Naturals Only and
CCS members, which leads to an escalation in the violence with concomitant
deaths and property damage. Penalties
for Longevity Law violations tend to be relatively minor compared to the
potential rewards, and traditional Enforcement offices are overwhelmed by the
magnitude of the task.

2050
Longevity Law Enforcement is created as a special independent national
entity with offices in all major cities.
Chris McGregor is the first officer assigned to D. C. LLE after having
worked in D.C. Major Crimes for a decade.

Detectives are generally drawn from existing
Homicide or Major Crimes units, although they may be recruited straight from
police academies.

2050 The first tourist shell is built on the
Moon.

2051 Time of Prologue for Longevity (Longevity
Law Enforcement, Book 1) Karen DeVoe, Chris McGregor’s wife, dies in a car
accident.

2060 Livvy(Olivia
Hutchins) is born to wealthy parents in San Francisco. (D.C. LLE detective)

2068 The Chief
takes his role as head of D.C. LLE after Chris McGregor declines the
appointment.

2074 After almost 25 years during which LLE
struggles to keep up with an ever-growing variety of Longevity and enhancement
related crimes, LLE is granted additional unusual powers. Paramount is its unofficial mandate to keep
major crimes out of the public eye. LLE
detectives have learned that they will be granted considerable latitude in how
to accomplish this, although it is always recognized that their activities will
be kept covert and officially unacknowledged.

2080 Michael Agnew is born. (D.C. LLE detective)

2087 Jesse Bedford, John Bedford’s
grandson, born. (Longevity)

2100 Senator Joyce Bettleman, a senior
Senator on the Moon Committee, dies in a car accident. (The Dog on the Moon)

2102 Time of Pretty Woman, Floating (Livvy's prequel to the Longevity Law Enforcement trilogy)

2102 Time of Prologue for The Burning
Rivers (Longevity Law Enforcement
Book 2)

2103 John Bedford’s last legal reset (Longevity)

2104 Joshua Bedford, John Bedford’s son,
die in a fire at age 48. (Longevity)

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Chris and Livvy and Louie have been on my mind for a long time now, and while I am comfortable with where I left their relationships at the end of The Dog on the Moon, the final book of the Longevity Law Enforcement Trilogy, I am not sure I can let them go. I find myself wondering about their earlier lives and how their precariously balanced society made them into the people they are. That's almost always true about how we see other people, I think. History matters, even in the future, I guess. So there may be a few more stories coming, although probably prequels, which would mean Chris on his own and Livvy on her own.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Book Review: Whores: not intended to be a factual account of the gender war, by Nicolas Wilson

Say in the near future men's rights get a real foothold in the U.S. political arena and women's reproductive rights take a plunge. Not a controlled dive, but a hit-the-bottom-of-the-quarry, backbreaking dive. Would a lot of women fight back? With lethal force? In Nicholas Wilson's "Whores" we are treated to a dystopian near-future U.S. in which they do. As the gender war progresses, the reader gradually hears the chilling personal tales of the fanaticized women in one particularly active cell.

What I love about near-future speculative fiction is that it functions as a "what if...?" If it is well done it offers us a mirror for subtle commentary on contemporary society while at the same time offering an exciting story in which readers get some tantalizing glimpses of where science and technology might take us. `Whores' emphasizes sociology over hard sciences and technology to an unusual degree, as it successfully gives a number of freedom fighters unique voices in a society that has shut them out. Frankly, it was all pretty horrible, as it was meant to be, and that made `Whores' a surprisingly compelling read.

To the author's credit this is far from a one-sided story although it is hardly even-handed: there are good and bad men and women and likeable and unlikable police and terrorists. On the whole it seemed well balanced, although it would have been nice to hear something from someone functioning in society but not part of the actual warring parties.

There is a lot of crude language and violence, including sexual violence, in `Whores.' That's my warning, because otherwise I strongly recommend `Whores' to anyone who wants to take an enlightening trip into what I hope is an alternative future we'll never reach.

Whores, a fascinating work of near-future speculative fiction, is available at:

Monday, October 1, 2012

Sherrie Cronin

z2

What if you could do far more than you realize? What if you
could do things that others would consider impossible? The collection of books
called 46. Ascending asks this as five very different members of a family each
discover that they respond to danger by developing skills that appear to defy
logic. The third novel in this collection, z2, has just been
released at Amazon.com.

An injury ended Alex
Zeitman’s hopeful basketball career decades ago and today he coaches, teaches
physics, and parents three talented quirky children alongside his rather odd
wife Lola. His country school has a long history with organized hate groups and
a sad tradition of bigotry, and the recent influx of Latino immigrants has
brought out new intolerance. But when the administration itself looks like it
wants to turn the clock backwards to an era of white supremacy, Alex can no
longer sit idle.

An old friend from his own high school days reappears along
with an ancient Maya mystery that Alex is uniquely qualified to help solve, and
suddenly Alex has his hands full. The past and present intertwine as both sets
of issues force Alex to come to terms with the tempo altering talents that he
thought that he left behind years ago on a basketball court.

As he and his family find themselves in danger, it becomes obvious that Alex has to accept that his empathic wife has become a telepath
and that his quiet genius son has taught himself how to alter his own
appearance. Alex struggles with his definition of reality as he recognizes that
he must also learn to control his special temporal abilities before legacies
from long ago harm those he loves, and before his own era loses a rare
opportunity to bridge the past and the future.

Sherrie Roth grew up in Western Kansas
thinking that there was no place in the universe more fascinating than outer
space. After her mother vetoed astronaut as a career ambition, she went on to
study journalism and physics in hopes of becoming a science writer.

She published her first science fiction short
story in 1979 and then waited a lot of tables while she looked for inspiration
for the next story. When it finally came,
it declared to her that it had to be whole book, nothing less. One
night, while digesting this disturbing piece of news, she drank way too many
shots of ouzo with her boyfriend. She woke up thirty-one years later demanding
to know what was going on.

The boyfriend, who she had apparently long
since married, asked her to calm down and
explained that in a fit of practicality she had gone back to school and
gotten a degree in geophysics and had spent the last 28 years interpreting
seismic data in the oil industry. The good news, according to Mr. Cronin, was
that she had found it at least mildly entertaining and ridiculously well-paying The bad news was that the two of them had
still managed to spend almost all of the money.

Apparently she was now Mrs. Cronin, and the
further good news was that they had produced three wonderful children whom they
loved dearly, even though to be honest that is where a lot of the money had
gone. Even better news was that Mr. Cronin
turned out to be a warm-hearted, encouraging sort who was happy to see
her awake and ready to write. "It's about time," were his exact
words.

Sherrie Cronin discovered that over the
ensuing decades Sally Ride had already managed to become the first woman in
space and apparently had done a fine job of it. No one, however, had written
the book that had been in Sherrie's head for decades. The only problem was, the
book informed her sternly that it had now grown into a six book series. Sherrie
decided that she better start writing it before it got any longer. She's been
wide awake ever since, and writing away.

Other books by Sherrie Cronin

x0: x0
is an ancient organization that prefers to stay hidden. Yet, when a young
Nigerian seeking her captive sister draws upon her telepathic powers to forge a
link with an unwilling Texan geophysicist, x0 reconsiders. The two women are
both far more powerful than they realize, and the sister has become a strategic
pawn in a conspiracy that threatens to alter the course of a nation. http://www.amazon.com/x0-Sherrie-Cronin/dp/0985156104

y1: y1 tells of a young man
with an uncanny ability to morph his appearance who finds that not everyone who
works at his pharmaceutical company wants him to knows the mysteries that the
company has worked so hard to keep hidden.
As a child, Zane swore to protect all of the odd people in the world. As an adult, he is fast discovering that
everyone is odd. Can he help them all? Now that he has been charged with
murder, can he even help himself?

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About Me

S.J. Hunter grew up on a small family farm in Wisconsin. Since then she has worked as a veterinarian and a librarian and lived in Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, California, Florida and many places in-between, including twice in Washington D.C. The whole experience, meaning life so far, has taught her that it is essential to keep a sense of humor handy. Dogs and cats and people with infectious laughs help, too.